Ian's hand was swollen and red, the stitches looking almost as if they were being pulled taut by the swelling. It looked awful to Ian, who wasn't all that familiar with such injuries, and he was absolutely certain that the first thing out of Doctor Fraiser's mouth was that they were going to need to do more tests on the hand – which would mean that he'd end up in the infirmary sure as shit.
He watched as she examined the wounds, her face expressionless so he couldn't tell what she was thinking. When she looked up, though, she knew right away that something had him worried, because his expression was worried as he looked at the hand – almost afraid.
She gave him a slight smile, to ease it a little, mistaking his concerns.
"Don't worry, Ian," she told him. "The wound's clean, and although it's swollen I'm not going to let there be an infection this time."
"This time?" Andrew asked, from where he'd been sitting on the arm of the couch Ian was sitting on, watching the procedure. "You've been attacked by a bear before?"
"Last time it was a tree," Janet explained, not smiling now, because the last time she'd allowed her personal feelings to put Ian in serious jeopardy, and that wasn't something she found at all amusing.
"I got cut and it got infected," Ian said, looking over at Andrew. "It wasn't that bad, though…"
It was, but Janet didn't correct him. Instead she touched the edges of the stitched areas carefully, watching him for any sign of severe pain.
"Hurt?"
"A little."
He was relieved that she didn't think the wounds were going to infect, and a bit gratified by the concern she was showing – although he'd never admit it, and knew she'd prefer that he didn't.
"Here?" She touched another spot.
He nodded, but didn't jerk his hand away, which told her that while it was sore, it wasn't excruciating.
"The stitches are being pulled a little by the swelling, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem as long as the swelling doesn't continue. We'll ice the hand to keep the swelling down – which should ease the soreness a bit, too – and then we'll take a look in a day or so, just to be sure there's nothing going on that needs dealing with."
Since she didn't mention anything about constant care or checking on him regularly, Ian breathed a sigh of relief, and Janet heard it. She smiled as she started to put a clean bandage on the hand, and looked at his chest – which was bare since he'd taken off his coat and hadn't kept the bloody ripped t-shirt on. The cuts there were clean, too, just a little swollen. She decided that they'd probably leave an interesting scar.
"Andrew? Didn't you say your uncle lives up here?"
Andrew nodded.
"Him, my aunt, my cousin and my grandmothers…"
"Why don't you go see if he has a shirt that Ian can borrow?"
It was warming nicely in the living room and lower level of the lodge, but it was still too chilly to be running around without a shirt on.
Andrew nodded, and got up, heading out of the living room, and Janet turned back to Ian.
"How does your chest feel?"
Ian shook his head.
"It's okay."
"We'll bandage it, just to make sure it stays clean – and because I've never actually dealt with a bear attack before – but you probably won't need to do much with it after a couple of days."
"Thanks, Doctor Fraiser."
She smiled, and started bandaging his chest, careful not to hurt him as she applied the antibiotic ointment. By the time she was finished, Andrew was back with a handful of clothing – and he was wearing a clean shirt as well.
"I borrowed some clothes from my aunt, too, Doctor Fraiser," Andrew said – a little shyly. He wasn't sure if she wanted it pointed out that she looked like some kind of homeless person wearing those sweats and that ugly shirt and nothing else.
"Thank you, Andrew."
She took the clothing he offered her and got off the footstool she'd been sitting on while she'd been taking care of Ian.
"I'm going to go change, and then we'll see about breakfast."
When she was gone, Andrew tossed Ian a shirt – ironically enough it was a white t-shirt.
"How's the hand?"
"It's okay."
"How's your car?"
"FUBAR. The hood is anyways."
"You're insured?"
"Up to my ass."
Andrew smiled and watched as Ian put the clean shirt on.
"If you want to take it easy, I can help Doctor Fraiser make breakfast."
Ian shook his head.
"I'll help – if she lets me. I already know I'm not going to be doing much when it comes to doing the dishes."
The two of them got up and headed into the kitchen, both hungry and both hoping that Fraiser would be able to figure out something better for breakfast than what they'd had for dinner the night before.
OOOOOOOOOO
"What did you two eat last night for dinner?" Janet asked curiously as she looked through the cupboards. The kitchen wasn't in shambles, so obviously they hadn't cooked. Or if they had, then they'd done a fine job of cleaning things up.
"Venison roast and mac and cheese." Andrew answered, while Ian went over and leaned against the counter out of the way until Janet could tell him what she wanted him to do to help.
Fraiser looked at them, surprised.
"You cooked a roast?"
"Somewhat." Ian said.
"Somewhat?"
"Some of it was cooked," Andrew clarified. "Most of it was pretty red, still… but it was already burning, so we-"
"You ate raw venison for dinner?"
"We ate the cooked part," Ian assured her. "The rest we tossed."
So they weren't completely crazy, then, Janet decided with relief. Otherwise she was going to end up with both of them on medications for all sorts of parasites, she was certain.
"Well…" she said, finishing her examination of the ingredients in the kitchen and pantry by checking the fridge, "I think I can do better than that. Andrew? Will you find me a mixing bowl and a couple of frying pans?"
Hopeful, Andrew opened the cupboard, while Janet rolled up the sleeves of her borrowed sweatshirt and started pulling supplies out of the pantry.
